The Silver Trio
by Janner
Summary: The Golden trio weren't the only hero's.


The Silver Trio.

Ginny Weasley wiped her eyes and stood up from her position kneeling beside the body of her brother, Fred. His twin, George, was still crying over the person that had been his other half, his alter-ego. They had been two halves of one being, each blessed with an independent existence.

The arms of her mother and father embraced her, bemoaning the loss of their son and her brother. "Where is Ron?" she asked, he was the only Weasley she had not seen. Her father answered her question.

"He's fine; he's gone off with Harry and Hermione, something about Dumbledore's tomb."

Looking around what was left of the Great Hall at the groups of people giving and receiving medical treatment, some like the Weasley's grieving over a body, she finally saw the one she was looking for. He was just coming in through the shattered doorway carrying something in his arms. Instinctively, she knew that it was yet another body, she ran to him. As she reached him, she watched in horror as he gently lowered the body of Colin Creevey to the floor.

"Oh no, Neville, not Colin too." She didn't try to stop the tears but flung herself into Neville's arms, blubbering into his chest. Another arm slid across her shoulder and a soft Irish brogue identified its owner.

"Colin? Oh God, is this shit ever gonna end?" Seamus asked rhetorically. Ginny thought of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Off on their own again and screw everybody else. Suddenly she didn't want to be there.

"Guys, I have to get out of here. Come with me?"

Ginny sat on her bed, Seamus was on Parvati's, while Neville took the chair beside Ginny. They were all tired and bloodied to varying degrees. Ginny looked at Neville's head wound, "You should get that seen to, you know." Neville gave a wry smile,

"You do it then. You've treated worse than this in the last year." Indeed she had. Seamus had got into a bad habit of getting his nose broken. Three times Ginny had repaired it. She had mopped up enough blood to last her a lifetime, some of it had been her own. Opening her makeshift medical supplies she wiped the blood off Neville's face.

Seamus watched her work. Over the last year he had watched her treating injuries. Madam Pomfrey had provided training, at great risk to herself. Mostly she had been forbidden to treat all but the most serious of life-threatening wounds. Ginny had absorbed the training far better than anyone else. Seamus was familiar with the look of concentration on her face, and the compassion that oozed from her eyes. Ginny tipped some potion onto a lint pad,

"This may sting a bit." There was even compassion in her voice as she touched the pad to Neville's scalp wound. Neville flinched,

"It did!" Neville laughed, which made Seamus laugh, which made Ginny laugh. The three were soon engulfed in paroxysms of laughter at the realisation that it was all over. Relief washed through them.

"We did it, guys." Ginny finally managed to speak, "We survived. No need to worry about going to hell now. We've been there. I have you two to thank for getting me through. I love you both." Suddenly she realised the truth of what she had said, she really did love these two.

Seamus with his eternally bad, mostly filthy, jokes. Ginny especially liked the one about the pineapple ring, whipped cream with a cherry on the top. Plus his sometimes useful penchant for blowing things up.

Neville, so damned courageous. The most unlikely candidate for the title of hero, he had taken more crap, protecting the younger students, than any other. Like the time he had suffered a beating for refusing to use the Cruciatus on a first year.

Crabbe and Goyle had been allocated that task and they were very good at their work, resulting in four broken ribs, a bruised and bloodied face including a broken nose. Neville looked as though he had seriously pissed off a Hippogriff. Seamus, Justin and Mike Corner had caught Goyle unawares in a corridor and in an empty classroom had exacted a decent measure of payback. Mike had been hard pressed to stop Seamus doing a practice castration. Justin's talent for memory modification left Goyle convinced that he had been beaten to a pulp by Pansy Parkinson and Millie Bulstrode because he refused to have sex with them.

The dumpy, reticent little first year that Neville had been was now a six feet two inch strongly-built man. He had been like a general commanding the resistance at Hogwarts for the last year, a general who led from the front and took more than his share of the lumps. Ginny thought the world should know of his courage, but she also knew that their part would be submerged in the adoration that would envelop the so-called 'Golden Trio'.

"We got each other through it, Ginny. We couldn't have done it without you either." Said Seamus, "Just for the record, we love you too." A group hug followed. Ginny got serious again.

"Let's go up to headquarters, there's bound to be some of Colin's stuff up there. We should box it up and make sure it gets to his family." They made their way to the Room of Requirement, a k a headquarters. From a spot just inside the door they surveyed what had been their little domain.

Scattered around were airbeds, camp beds, sleeping bags and duvet covers. Personal possessions also littered the room, some boxed but most not. Lines of washing criss-crossed the room, still laden with clean shirts, shorts, bras and knickers. The house elves had not been permitted to provide laundry services and the girls had long since stopped worrying about their underwear being on public display. Then there was the air, Ginny took a sniff, "Phew, I can't believe we lived here all that time and never noticed the smell."

"Twenty or thirty people living in close proximity will do that, especially when one of them is an Irishman who can't, or won't, stop farting." Seamus glared at Neville, he wasn't standing for that.

"And another is a guy who only owns one pair of socks." A weak response, but the best he could do at the moment. They arrived at the area where Colin had 'lived'. Colin owned two trunks, one contained his photographic equipment. It was securely locked and they knew they would be foolish indeed if they tried to open it, Colin was sure to have set some nasty surprises for anybody but him who tried to get inside. The other trunk held his spare clothes, schoolbooks and a picture album. They looked at the images of Dumbledore's Army and some of the things they had done. There were snaps of Neville after his beating which Colin had hoped might be given in evidence at some future trial.

Seamus picked up a large envelope and peered inside, "Bloody hell… Hannah, wow…" Ginny looked over his shoulder at tastefully posed, mostly discreet, but a couple not, and definitely nude, pictures of seventeen-year-old Hannah Abbott. "Look at that, she's got a mole on her…" Neville snatched the envelope,

"None of our business, Seamus," he gave the envelope to Ginny, "Perhaps you should give these to Hannah, Gin, I don't think Colin's family would want them."

"Yeah, okay, she does look amazing though." She thought the pictures were so good that she wished Colin had asked her to pose. Seamus sealed some smaller boxes, piled them up and lifted them with his wand.

"I'll take these to McGonagall; she'll see they get to the right place. He headed for the door.

"Okay, we'll bring the trunks shortly, mate." The open trunk comfortably held everything that Colin had left lying around. Closing the lid Neville took another look around the room. "You know Gin, in spite of everything that we've been through in here; I'm going to miss this place. I'm going to miss you too." Ginny moved closer and put her arms around his neck,

"I'm not going anywhere Neville. Why would I stay away from the one I love? I do love you Nev', really I do. I just wish we had more time right now."

"I love you too, Ginny." She softly brushed her lips on his. The thrill of his fervent response left her breathless. Thirty minutes later they got dressed and left the room. Ginny soon found Hannah and asked for a quick word in private.

"What can I do for you, Ginny?"

Ginny produced the envelope, "We've just got Colin's personal effects together for his family and we came across these photos. We thought it right that you should have them. They are beautiful pictures, Hannah. I'm quite jealous that he didn't ask me."

"He did speak about asking you, I don't know why he didn't. Thanks Ginny, you're a pal."

"No problem Hannah… nice mole by the way." Hannah blushed and Ginny grinned as she walked away.

Minerva McGonagall strode to the podium set in front of the staff, students and families assembled on the lawn in front of Dumbledore's tomb for the Memorial Ceremony. Remembrance had been observed, tributes to the fallen spoken and praise heaped in abundance on Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. Everybody assumed that all that remained would be the closing remarks of the headmistress, but she had one more set of tributes to pay.

"At his point I ask Seamus Finnegan to join me up here. Mr. Finnegan if you please, step forward? A bewildered Seamus went to stand beside Professor McGonagall. "Ginevra Weasley, please join us." An equally confused Ginny, complied. "And finally Neville Longbottom." The three students waited uncomprehendingly as the professor began to speak again.

"Throughout the last school year there has existed within Hogwarts, a student's organisation known as Dumbledore's Army. The purpose of which was to harry, confuse, distract, resist and generally annoy the evil regime that temporarily held sway here. That they succeeded in no small measure is entirely due to the leadership of the three young people standing here. Their success was achieved at a price. They suffered torture and other forms of physical abuse, usually in defence of others, but throughout the year their resolve never failed. I can honestly say that, over more years than I care to remember, I have never been prouder of any students in my care. Therefore the Board of Governors has awarded these three a Special Award for services to the school. Although in Mr. Finnegan's case I think it's the first time a student has received such an award for blowing up part of the castle."

Seamus grinned sheepishly as the audience laughed and Neville slapped him on the back. Each of them was presented with a small gold statuette of Merlin and an ornate framed parchment. A movement caught Ginny's eye as Hermione rose to her feet and began to clap her hands, Harry and Ron followed suit. Within seconds the whole assembly were applauding, cheering and whistling. Ginny was blushing and thinking, we didn't do it for this but, damn, it feels wonderful.

The photographers from the Daily Prophet were snapping away and the new Chief Reporter, Rita Skeeter's replacement, was thinking that this was a story that had to be told, under his by-line of course. The Silver Trio, he had the title already and given editorial co-operation it could run for a week, to be followed by the book. Maybe he could even turn it into a novel that Muggles would read. This is it, he thought, this is my story, I'm going to be rich. Visions of literary awards filled his head and for a brief moment he completely forgot where he was.

The Silver trio were joined by their golden counterparts, handshakes, hugs, backslaps and kisses seemed to take forever. Catching a glimpse of Seamus's framed parchment, Harry could not resist asking,

"Seamus X. Finnegan? What's the X…"

"Don't ask! Not now, not ever!" Seamus snarled. Intrigued, Ginny smiled, she would find out eventually, she always did.

It was the first day of the school year; the Sorting Ceremony and Feast were over. Four new first-years were standing in the courtyard in front of a large plinth topped with the carved busts of three people. "That's them," said eleven-year-old Brian Longbottom, "Mum, Dad and Uncle Seamus."

"Dumbledore's Army." Said Brian's sister Molly, the youngest of the triplets.

"The Silver Trio." Sinead Finnegan quoted the large words on the plinth.

"Handsome bunch weren't they?" asked Hermione, the second of Ginny's triplets. Noticing the inscribed names she asked Sinead, "What does the X stand for?" Sinead laughed,

"I'll give you the only answer my Dad ever gives. 'Don't ask! Not now, not ever!"

A new generation was starting at Hogwarts.


End file.
